30 Times Boomers Gave Advice, But Didn’t Notice That The World Doesn’t Work The Way It Used To
Are you tired of the phrase 'OK Boomer' yet? Originating from the exasperation and futility of arguing with people who approach the world's problems from a position of security and privilege, the meme has quickly morphed into a lame conversation killer, mindlessly and derisively parroted by people who disagree with anyone who happens to be older than them.
I blame the online culture of 'savage putdowns,' 'mic-drops' and 'word murders' for this – we have come to believe that the way to 'win' a debate is to flounce out with a particularly biting or amusing insult, at the expense of logic and reason. 'OK Boomer' is not clever, and it's not even funny anymore. It's smug, boring and counterproductive.
This post highlights the generational divide that we face today, as younger people share the out-of-touch advice that they have received from their elders. Because let's face it, the structural inequality, economic insecurity and environmental destruction that Millenials and Gen X'ers have inherited are a direct result of the selfish, greedy neoliberal policies championed by Boomers over the last 30 years.
Understandably, the younger generations are a bit upset at their comparative lack of opportunities and are even more frustrated by the absence of understanding and empathy shown in useless pieces of 'advice' like this. But it works both ways. Whilst Boomers could better educate themselves as to the realities of the modern world, and acknowledge that the kind of lifestyles they enjoyed are excessive, damaging and no longer attractive or attainable; casually dismissing the opinions and life experience of older people with thoughtless phrases like 'OK Boomer' ultimately achieves nothing but more division and even less understanding.
What do you think? How can we better bridge the gaps between generations to have more useful, constructive debates and discussions? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Image credits: Freeyourmindkid This post may include affiliate links.
Lots of people are putting their heads in the sand on this topic. It's a mystery to me as to why.
Nope. Even the pre-boomer generation wouldn't give you that advice. I'm a boomer but my father always told me to follow the money. If you can get more money working elsewhere then don't hang around and move on.
Making that follow up call makes a big difference. I immigrated, and was applying to tons of jobs online. For weeks I received no replies and no interviews. I then started to call just after each submission. That same day I got two interviews lined up.
i think that's something healthy to keep in mind, boomers were part of the most intense first wave civil rights movements, they protested against wars, and some learned to overcome their own racism, sexism, and homophobia. "ok boomer" is used to insult boomers who refused to change with the times and continue to act like bigotry is acceptable.
Let's reverse that: "If you pay me more I might be willing to work harder."
I like my job, I enjoy going to work. It is possible to,be happy at work.
Yeah. Because that's exactly what everyone wants. Zero free time. /full sarcasm.
There's an article out there somewhere, that showed you could pay your way through Harvard on minimum wage with something like an average of four hours work a day, and now you would need to work 72 hours a day to achieve the same (not the exact figures, but something equally crazy).
Lol, it's not like a cat, you can't just leave them with an automatic feeder
They should follow their own advice. Or is this one of those "Do as I say, don't do as I do" things?
Note: this post originally had 96 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Most of the "boomer" advice, was good advice years ago. Things have changed, and this generation has to make it fit for them. It should not be a fight, but each group learning from each other.
I hate the terms boomer and millenial as they're only ever used as insults now. Can't we just admit that good and bad come in all ages. Most of this advice is just the advice of thoughtless people. I bet there are 30 year olds who say this crap and plenty of 60 year olds who don't.
And now I hear they hate GenX because we were slackers. I think it's lazy to hate entire groups of people because of how they were born.
It's ok, the millennials will be complaining about their kids one day. That's why God, or Mother Nature or the alien mother planet made us have an expiration date. If old people didn't die, we'd all still be living in caves because "YOU DANG KIDS JUST THINK YOU'RE TOO GOOD TO LIVE IN A CAVE!"
The world is constantly changing and it's our choice whether we want to listen to the people most affected by that change or not. For someone like me (in my 50s), that often means listening to and learning from people who are younger than me. I'm okay with that. Many people aren't.
People seem to forget that, every generation deals with changes from the previous. We learn from them, they are our parents and our grandparents. They made us who we are. You can't blame people for living for what they stood for. Our children and children's children will probably think what we did can be done in better ways. As a kind we need generation upon generation to show improvement. That little tug o war we are always in makes us what we are now. Always room for improvement. Let's hope that there is less blaming and judging and more learning and communicating in the future. It's the boomers that built the internet and many products we take for granted. All because they did sometimes wear a tie or have the women take care of the kids and put a little make up on and went in for an application or not have tattoes or pink hair. And now we do it differently. Hashtag endrant.
r/enlightenedcentrist
Yes, species change & accommodate, or they die. Another reason why they kill us off after a certain age.
Whole lot of crying going on here. And no I am not a boomer. EVERY generation says the previous one is out of touch and gave bad advise. This just proves that the world is constantly changing each new generation has to find a way to navigate the new world they find them selves in.
You are right except for the crying part. It would be nice if some generation could break the cycle though.
This.
And every generation thinks the next one is lazy and entitled and disrespectful -- it's been true since the beginning of time. Elders (of which I am one now) DO have to accept that their advice very well may be out of date and no longer relevant. BUT -- understand that it's hard for some parents to stop giving advice and guiding you. After it's been your job to teach and guide and advise your kid for 18 years (maybe 30 years in all, for multiple kids), it's hard to turn that instinct off. I bite my tongue all the time!
I am actually more amazed at how many adults around me, some in their 40s, are still turning to their parents to help them out with stuff they really should have sussed out by now. I mean things like their own household admin. If they can't do that kind of thing on their own then, yikes, what went wrong??
It doesn't really sound like crying to me, more like exasperation. The system in the US no longer works. Adjustments need to be made or the country will crash in burn and no amount of billionaires who store their money off-shore will prevent that.
Some of the world's billionaires are boomers, some are GenX and some are millennials. Put them all together and they still account for less than 1% of 1% of the population. Perhaps Boomer-haters should direct their anger toward the real enemy: Capitalism.
The difference, I believe, is the hypocrisy that accompanies the boomers. They are quick to point out that they held protests and all the ways they are/were better than younger generations.
And then complain about protests blocking traffic now.
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The only one I see crying is you Dave.
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Ok Boomer.
Most of the "boomer" advice, was good advice years ago. Things have changed, and this generation has to make it fit for them. It should not be a fight, but each group learning from each other.
I hate the terms boomer and millenial as they're only ever used as insults now. Can't we just admit that good and bad come in all ages. Most of this advice is just the advice of thoughtless people. I bet there are 30 year olds who say this crap and plenty of 60 year olds who don't.
And now I hear they hate GenX because we were slackers. I think it's lazy to hate entire groups of people because of how they were born.
It's ok, the millennials will be complaining about their kids one day. That's why God, or Mother Nature or the alien mother planet made us have an expiration date. If old people didn't die, we'd all still be living in caves because "YOU DANG KIDS JUST THINK YOU'RE TOO GOOD TO LIVE IN A CAVE!"
The world is constantly changing and it's our choice whether we want to listen to the people most affected by that change or not. For someone like me (in my 50s), that often means listening to and learning from people who are younger than me. I'm okay with that. Many people aren't.
People seem to forget that, every generation deals with changes from the previous. We learn from them, they are our parents and our grandparents. They made us who we are. You can't blame people for living for what they stood for. Our children and children's children will probably think what we did can be done in better ways. As a kind we need generation upon generation to show improvement. That little tug o war we are always in makes us what we are now. Always room for improvement. Let's hope that there is less blaming and judging and more learning and communicating in the future. It's the boomers that built the internet and many products we take for granted. All because they did sometimes wear a tie or have the women take care of the kids and put a little make up on and went in for an application or not have tattoes or pink hair. And now we do it differently. Hashtag endrant.
r/enlightenedcentrist
Yes, species change & accommodate, or they die. Another reason why they kill us off after a certain age.
Whole lot of crying going on here. And no I am not a boomer. EVERY generation says the previous one is out of touch and gave bad advise. This just proves that the world is constantly changing each new generation has to find a way to navigate the new world they find them selves in.
You are right except for the crying part. It would be nice if some generation could break the cycle though.
This.
And every generation thinks the next one is lazy and entitled and disrespectful -- it's been true since the beginning of time. Elders (of which I am one now) DO have to accept that their advice very well may be out of date and no longer relevant. BUT -- understand that it's hard for some parents to stop giving advice and guiding you. After it's been your job to teach and guide and advise your kid for 18 years (maybe 30 years in all, for multiple kids), it's hard to turn that instinct off. I bite my tongue all the time!
I am actually more amazed at how many adults around me, some in their 40s, are still turning to their parents to help them out with stuff they really should have sussed out by now. I mean things like their own household admin. If they can't do that kind of thing on their own then, yikes, what went wrong??
It doesn't really sound like crying to me, more like exasperation. The system in the US no longer works. Adjustments need to be made or the country will crash in burn and no amount of billionaires who store their money off-shore will prevent that.
Some of the world's billionaires are boomers, some are GenX and some are millennials. Put them all together and they still account for less than 1% of 1% of the population. Perhaps Boomer-haters should direct their anger toward the real enemy: Capitalism.
The difference, I believe, is the hypocrisy that accompanies the boomers. They are quick to point out that they held protests and all the ways they are/were better than younger generations.
And then complain about protests blocking traffic now.
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The only one I see crying is you Dave.
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Ok Boomer.